The chief executive, Steve Ingham, said: "Activity levels remained strong throughout the quarter, but with difficult conditions likely to continue in several markets, we expect Q3 will be another challenging quarter."

There were broad-based falls across all employment sectors, led by marketing, sales and retail, and followed by the finance and accounting and the engineering and construction sectors.

The company said it had cut 144 jobs since the beginning of the year, mainly affecting operational support staff, as it continued to try to cut costs amid difficult market conditions. It employed a total of 4,955 people at the end of June.

"Our focus remains fixed on our long-term growth and profit objectives. We will continue to invest in our key, high-potential markets, to manage our fee earner headcount actively reflecting market conditions and to seek out efficiencies to drive down the costs of operational support," Ingham said.

Its largest division, covering Europe, the Middle East and Africa, suffered the sharpest fall in profits in the first half, down 9.1%, reflecting the tough economic backdrop in Europe. It was followed by the Asia Pacific, which was down 4.5%.

Profits at its UK business fell by 0.4% over the first half, but were up 0.3% in the second quarter alone, echoing other more upbeat data for the wider economy in recent weeks.

The Americas region was strongest, with gross profits up 4.6% in the first six months of the year.

Michael Page said it was launching new businesses in all of its regions, and growing in markets including China and Latin America, where it is less dependent on the finance and accounting employment market.

In the UK, its logistics, procurement, digital, energy and public sector businesses were among the strongest performers.